Our front garden wall had to be taken down this week, well to be honest it was still standing on a wing and a prayer. Apart from being dangerous it did look an eyesore. So we decided to replace it with hedging~and with so much to choose from it did get rather confusing. There are good  few online sites who specialise in tree and hedging but being of an impatient nature I went to our local specialist nursery at Rayne Essex http://www.kingco.co.uk/ The lady was very helpful and certainly new her subject. I plumped for bare root Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus) Would have liked instant hedging but was a little expensive so will just have to be patient. You should allow 5 plants per metre or for higher density 7. As they came in packs of 25 I planted 23 over a 3.5 metre area, keeping the remaing 2 to plant in pots, just incase some of them didn't take. As you can see from the picture they at the moment look like twigs but was assured that they will very quickly establish. Already there are some green shoots appearing! Planting: dig a spades depth and about 2 foot wide trench. (You can add some bonemeal but was advised if you have foxes in the area they are likely to dig them up) I planted them in a zigzag fashion and added some fresh topsoil and pressed them firmly in with my foot. Keep them well watered too. The picture on the left is  the leaf of the hornbeam. Will be patiently waiting to see the finshed results, and will post the results later in the year. Bye for Now!